Secrets, mysteries and magic
by MaddisonRei
Summary: Mariko, graduated from Konoha acadamy at an early age, now she is an anbu being sent on an even bigger adventure; Hogwarts where she will learn about magic and figure out the mysteries of her past. Will she figure out who she is? and maybe fall in love?
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi. x.**_

_**This is my first Naruto-HP crossover so I am sorry if it is not to your liking. x.**_

_**Summary: **__A Konaha ninja (my OC) is found to possess magic as well as ninja ability. Being the genius she is, she graduated from Konoha's ninja academy at the very young age of 5, not the usual 12. She is incredibly strong and when Dumbledore appears to take her to Hogwarts, how many others will be found to possess magic..?. And what surprises will they find along the way..?._

_**Warnings/notices: **__Ok… I could not for the life of me remember which book is which and what happened in each school year so I decided that this will be just a random school year. I made it up so it will probably not be following any of the story-lines from Harry Potter… unless I am J. without me knowing. O.o_

_**Disclaimer: **__Since it is highly unlikely that I AM J. without me knowing then I probably do not own Harry Potter… and I definitely do not own Naruto or there would be some serious yaoi SasuNaru action._

_**Ages: **_

_Harry Potter- 15_

_Draco Malfoy- 15_

_Hermione Granger- 15_

_Ronald Weasely- 15_

_Ginny Weasely- 14_

_Fred + George Weasely- 16_

_(You can figure out all and any of the others from what year they are in.)_

_Naruto Uzumaki- 15_

_Sasuke Uchiha- 15_

_Sakura Haruno- 15_

_Kiba Inuzuka- 15_

_Shino Aburame- 16_

_Hinata Hyuuga- 15_

_Neji Hyuuga- 16_

_Rock Lee- 16_

_TenTen- 16_

_Shikimaru Nara- 16_

_Chouji Akamichi- 16_

_Ino Yamanaka- 15_

_OC- 16_

_(Not all of these characters will be at Hogwarts)_

_**(4-G)Kiba.i**__**.,(5-R) Shikamaru.n.,**____**(2-R)Sakura.h.,**__** (7-G)Naruto.u**__**.,(8-S) Sasuke.u.,(**__**1-S) OC**__**, **__**(6-H)Lee.r.,**____**(3-H)Hinata.h.**____**will be the ones going to hogwarts.**_

_**Pairings:**_

_**Sasuke+Naruto**_

_**Sakura+Lee**_

_**Kiba+Hinata**_

_**Shikamaru+OC**_

_**Harry+Draco**_

_**Hermione+Ron**_

_**Background information:**_

_**Ok, so my OC is called Mariko Akane and she is, as I said before, very powerful in both ninjary and wizardry. She is an ANBU since she graduated the academy when she was 5. She became ANBU when she was 10. **_

_**She is an orphan because her mother died during child-birth and she doesn't know who her father is… only that he comes from the 'Outside' and was a wizard either at Hogwarts or was a teacher there since the only time her mother ever went 'outside' it was on a mission to Hogwarts.**_

_**Mariko's pov**_

_Knock knock knock_

"Come in" Upon hearing the voice I walked in to the Hokage's office in full ANBU uniform. I was wearing black baggy trousers, a black vest top which showed the ANBU tattoo's decorating my shoulders, black ninja sandals and the usual white armour. I had my long dark hair pulled into a high ponytail and was wearing my ANBU mask. My mask was a fiery bird called a Phoenix. Tsunade always said that it was not a real animal, just a fairy-tale creature, but it was the only one that resembled my personality and skill.

I bowed before my Hokage and saw that she had other students in her office with her. I recognised all of them seeing as I was supposed to be in their teams. I was their age but because of me graduating early I missed out on being teamed up with all of them. They were my friends, for the most part, so they all knew who I was. The office door closed behind me.

"You can take off your mask Mariko." I removed my mask quickly and smiled to my friends.

In the office was Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Lee Hinata and Sakura who were all my friends as well as Sasuke who didn't like me much. I liked him, I thought he was really nice, but I was stronger than him and I was the 'genius' that surpassed him and graduated early so I wasn't all that great in his books.

"Hi Guys" I said excitedly.

"Hi Mariko." Hinata said quietly from across the room.

"Hey, Mari!" Kiba and Naruto shouted in unison. I almost jumped at the sheer volume of their voices. Almost. I _was_ an ANBU and what kind of ANBU would I be if I jumped at loud noises? But god it was loud. Luckily, I had Sakura who promptly hit them both on the head with that wonderful super-strength of hers, effectively shutting them up. Sasuke just nodded slightly while simultaneously helping his blonde boyfriend off the floor. I smiled slightly at the sight. They were cute together, although it took a hell of a lot of meddling from us girls to finally get them together.

"HELLO. GOOD DAY TO YOU MARIKO OUR YOUTHFUL FRIEND. I TRUST YOU DAY HAS BEEN EXTREMELY YOUTHFUL SO FAR? OF COURSE IT HAS; THUS, THE POWER OF YOUTH IS AWESOMELY YOUTHFUL!"

I smiled at Lee. He was loud too and honestly his stupid yelling was completely pointless but it always put a smile on my face. Shikamaru walked over to my and pulled me into a short hug.

"Hi." He whispered. I hugged him tightly and said 'hi' back. Great conversationalists, aren't we? He chuckled quietly before pulling away.

"Now that greetings are over, please everyone take a seat. I have something to tell you all."

Shikamaru quickly lay down on the sofa, spreading his whole body across it and closing his eyes. I sighed. I loved my boyfriend, I really did, but he was so god-damn lazy! Not that I was one to talk but even I am not as lazy as him. I slowly made my way over to the two seater sofa where Shikamaru was currently falling asleep. I patted his forehead to get his attention.

"Shift." He sat up to let be sit down and then lay his head in my lap. I pulled his headband out and started running my hand through his silky locks. I looked up to see everyone sat down. Hinata and Kiba were holding hands, sat on the other two seater sofa, Sakura was sat in one armchair which and ever-energetic Lee sat on the floor in front of her leaning his head back into her lap, Sasuke was sat in the other armchair with a crazily blushing blonde curled up in his lap. Tsunade was just watching us all with an amused expression on her face until a man dressed in a strange kind of robes appeared next her. She nodded to him and he nodded back. Then she turned to us and began to talk.

"An old friend of mine, Dumbledore Albus, came here this morning to tell me that all of you possess magic. You see, Dumbledore-san is the headmaster of a magic school called Hogwarts. It is a school of witchcraft and wizardry and they teach young witches and wizards how to use their magic effectively. Now, there are three different types of wizards and witches. Muggle-born, which are the wizard who are born into a non-magical family but somehow possess magic. Half-blood, which is when one of your parents are magical, but the other is not. Last but not least, there are pure-bloods. Pure-blood wizards and witches are born into magical families. They generally have very long famous family trees like the Hyuuga's or the Uchiha's here.

Sakura, Lee, Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke and Shikamaru are all muggle-born. Whereas, Naruto is a half-blood because Kushina, Naruto's mother, was a wizard. She was a pure-blood actually. The Uzumaki family are rather famous in the wizard world. Mariko is either a Half-blood or a pure-blood since we do not know who her father is. Mariko's mother was a pure-blood and she came from a long line of powerful witches, her family is also famous. So I suppose she is a pure-blood… unless her father is a muggle which is impossible." She told the man next to her.

"So… we are wizards and witches?" Sakura asked slowly.

"Yes."

"And I will actually be able to use magic..?." Lee asked with a sad expression on his face. He seemed worried of what the answer would be.

"Of course you will… why would you..?." The man answered. He seemed genuinely confused as to why Lee would be worried about using magic.

"Lee is a ninja with the very rare problem of not being able to use chakra. I think he assumed that since he cannot use chakra, that he may not be able to use magic either." She explained to the man. Then she turned back to Lee with a comforting smile on her face. "don't worry Lee. You were born with magic, you will definitely be able to use it!"

He seemed overjoyed at the comment.

"This is Severus Snape, he is a professor at Hogwarts and he will be your guide and teacher before the school year starts. You will go a few months before the school year starts so that you can catch up on what you are already supposed to have learnt from your school. You will be joining the school, posing as Japanese exchange students to explain the absence of you for the previous years. The reason you haven't been to the school for the previous years is that this is the Hidden villages… it took a while for them to find you. It was only because Dumbledore finally figured out where to look that they found you at all." We all nodded, slowly absorbing the information.

"HEY. BAA-CHAN, WHEN DO WE LEAVE?" Tsunade shot a death glare at Naruto for the nick-name but answered anyway.

"Ok… you will be leaving in a minute. No need to pack because you will need to buy a whole new wardrobe when you arrive to be able to fit in. Naruto and Mariko will already have their own family vaults there and the rest of you will use mine and Jiraya's joint vault."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." Sakura spoke quietly. Tsunade just nodded and smiled.

"Just don't wipe us out please." Everyone laughed, including Shikamaru who we all assumed was asleep.

"Ok, time to go. Will everyone please grab hold of this boot and it will transport us to 'The Leaky Cauldron' where we will all be staying until the start of the school year." Everyone nodded and took a firm grip on the dirty boot. I stared at it with disgust until Shikamaru shouted my name. I snapped out of it and placed a single finger on top of the dirty old boot just in time to see the world around me spin and disappear. When we vanished I felt a horrible tug just below the navel. It made me want to throw up.

When we finally stopped spinning everyone fell over except for me and Snape. Snape gave me a funny look for staying standing up but I just put on a smug smirk and raised a single eyebrow. He didn't say anything, instead he turned his attention to the 7 people lying on the floor. I offered a hand to Shikamaru and pulled him up so he was standing next to me. I turned and saw Sasuke stood up and back to normal helping up a green looking blonde. Kiba was scooping a still dizzy Hinata into his arms and Lee was bouncing around as usual while Sakura was watching him bemusedly. I sighed. Typical.

_**I hope you enjoyed it. x. **_

_**Please review and tell me what you think. x.**_

_**:)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey. x.**_

_**I hope you liked the last chapter and I also hope that you have reviewed. x.**_

"Talking-English"

"_Talking-Japanese"_

_Thinking_

"**Kyuubi/demon/summon/animal talking"**

_**Kyuubi/demon/summon/animal thinking**_

_**Mariko's pov**_

After we arrived at 'The Leaky Cauldron' we settled into our rooms. Sakura, Hinata and I all shared a room. Naruto and Sasuke shared a room and Lee, Shikamaru and Kiba shared another room, since they did NOT want to be in the same room as the two lovers.

After a good night's sleep we made our way downstairs to eat breakfast. That's what we were doing now. Eating. Well… some of us were eating. Naruto and Sasuke had gotten into _another_ lovers tiff and me, Sakura, Kiba and Hinata were watching while eating our breakfast. Lee was once again running around the room screaming about 'the joyful youth'. This was how Snape found us.

He stood staring for at least 15 minutes before taking the empty seat next to me and whispering;

"_What the hell is going on?"_

"_Well, Kiba is filling himself and Akamaru, who Tsunade shrunk and Kiba put in his coat which is why we didn't notice him before during the journey, up on bacon and watching Sasuke and Naruto who got into yet another fight this morning… no-one knows what it is about this time. It was just funny to hear them screaming profanities and each other coming down the stairs this morning. Shikamaru is sleeping as per usual and Hinata is still the walking dead… Sakura is trying to wake her up, while watching the fight, while eating breakfast, while keeping an eye on her boyfriend, Lee, who is running around screaming about youth of some sort and basically just being Lee."_

"_What about you?"_

"_Me? I am enjoying my breakfast-time entertainment very much."_

He laughed slightly at this and pulled out his wand. I stiffened slightly when he pointed it at me.

"_It's ok. It's just a spell to make it so that you can understand English. You will definitely need it for your school work and for shopping Diagon Alley."_

I nodded once and he flicked his wrist muttering something under his breath in a language that I couldn't yet understand.

"Testing, testing. One, two. One, two… YEY! I can speak English!" I squealed slightly and hugged Snape who looked extremely uncomfortable, but I didn't care. I pulled away and gestured to the rest of my friends. He seemed to understand because he waved his wand again but this time over all of my friends. After the spell was finished they were still speaking in Japanese and it confused me.

"They can choose which language they speak in." I nodded before getting their attention.

They all turned to look at me and I said in English;

"Right then, kids… we're heading to Diagon Alley. So shut up and let's go, now. Oh right but before we go… Professor can you please return Akamaru to his original size? The damn puppy version of him annoys me so much."

"Of course." With another flick of the wrist Akamaru popped up, back to his original size. I let out a heavy sigh of relief as did some of the others. Kiba just pounced on him, gave him a hug and sat on his back. Strange child.

"Can you please stop calling us Kids… you are the same age as us!"

"Yes but I graduated earlier which means I reached adulthood earlier which means I have been an adult longer than you which technically means that I am older." I ended the statement by sticking my tongue out at the one who had spoken; Naruto.

Everyone laughed and we made our way out of the dining area of 'The Leaky Cauldron' and into the back wall. When we were all cramped into the little room Snape took out his wand and tapped a pattern onto the bricks. I watched in awe along with everyone else as the wall opened up and let us into Diagon Alley. Led by Snape, we first went to Gringotts; the bank.

"How may I help you?" Asked one goblin sat at a desk.

"We need to go to three vaults."

"Do you have the keys?"

"Yes, I have the keys." Snape then took out three tiny keys and handed them to the goblin that nodded and made his way around his desk to lead us out of the room.

He sat us all in some sort of boat and started making his way past the vaults. He stopped at one and said;

"Vault 629… Jiraya and Tsunade Sannin… joint account, for the use of Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno, Lee Rock, Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga and Sasuke Uchiha." He read off a paper and then led the six of them into the vault. Through the open door we could all see piles of gold, silver and bronze coins and other expensive looking objects. Naruto and I gasped at the sight of all the gold and it got me wondering. How much gold would Naruto and I have in our vaults? After everyone had grabbed as much as they could carry they got back in the boat and we made our way to the next vault.

"Vault 969… Uzumaki family vault." He led Naruto inside and again through the open door we could see everything inside. Naruto had at least 10X what Jiraya and Tsunade had! Naruto came back grinning broadly and carrying a large photograph in a frame.

"What's that?" I asked.

"My parents." He showed us the picture. When we looked we saw Kushina and Minato. They were moving around and then they talked to us! After we said hi and introduced ourselves to the photograph version of the fourth Hokage and his wife Naruto turned away with Sasuke to have a full conversation with his parents. Sasuke sat beside him quietly, only speaking when spoken to.

"Vault 510… Akane Family Vault." I nodded and followed the goblin into the vault. As soon as he opened the door I gasped. The vault was full to the brim of coins and gold and other extremely expensive looking item. The only thought running through my head was; _This was all mine?_

I grabbed as much as I could carry and ran from the vault. I dived back into the vault and snuggled into Shikamaru's side. He laughed slightly and I laughed with him. I was rich!

"You never told me that your name was Akane." Snape said quietly. Many people would hear his voice as cold and emotionless but I heard a hint of sadness in there too.

"Yes. My full name is Mariko Rose Akane… my mother was Ai Akane. Why?"

"How is Ai?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Dead. She didn't survive child-birth… she was alive long enough to name me and then she died." I answered. Sadness consuming my own voice.

"She has been orphaned her entire life."

"What about your father?" Snape asked me.

"I… don't know who he is. And I doubt he even knows that I was born. All I know is that he is a wizard and that he was at Hogwarts with my mother 16-17 years ago." He stiffened at my comment. He stared at me for a while until we were told that our visit to the bank was finished so we left. Once we were outside Snape turned to us and said;

"I have to go and talk to Dumbledore… You guys go shopping here is the list and all the shops you will need to go to. Do not, I repeat, do NOT leave the Alley and I will be back to pick you up later ok. Bye." With that said he quickly teleported, or apparated I think is what they call it here, out of the Alley.

"That was weird." I muttered.

"Right, well we are a big group so I think that it would be best if we split up into smaller groups. Four of us will go and get our books and cauldrons and stuff while the other four get their robes and then we switch… that'll be easy enough to do since the shops are right next to each other… then we can meet up and all go to get our wands and explore the rest of the Alley. Is that ok?" Everyone nodded at Shikamaru's idea and we split up. Me, Shikamaru, Naruto and Sasuke made our way to 'Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions' to get our robes. After getting our school robes and a few casual robes as well as some dress robes (for the guys, I got an actual dress) we decided to head outside and see is the others were ready to switch. They were so we went to get our books. We hadn't picked our elective classes yet so we had to buy all of the books for all or the lessons. After that we went to get our wands. It didn't take long at all to get the books and the robes because we knew that it would take longer to get our wands and we really wanted lots of time to explore.

We walked into the small, dusty shop and a little old man came running towards us making us jump. I glared down at the creepy looking old man until finally he moved over to Sasuke. The rest of us stood by the wall at the side of the store and waited for our turn to find our wands.

Sasuke got his on the first try. Ebony wood with a dragon heartstring core. When he gave it a wave a small burst of fire came from the tip.

The old man smiled and Sasuke came to join us by the wall examining his new wand. The old man, Ollivander I think his name was, shuffled forward with him and pulled Naruto into the middle of the store.

After ten wands Naruto was getting bored and he was muttering in Japanese about '_Damn Uchiha's genius prodigies getting their wants on the first try' _I was trying, and failing, to contain my laughter. Naruto shot a death glare in my direction before the old man claimed his attention with another wand. Beach wood with a mix of dragon heartstring and fox fur core. That was his wand. When he waved it orange sparks shot from the tip. He literally jumped for joy before running over to Sasuke and starting up a new conversation while examining his wand.

Sakura got hers on only the third try. Cherry wood with a snowy owl feather core. When she waved it Sakura petals floated from the tip.

Lee took a little bit longer than Sakura but not as long as Naruto. He got his on his seventh try. Elm tree, mimblus mimbletonia core. Green sparks shot out of the end when he waved it.

Shikamaru got his on the second try. Willow branch, shadow dragon heartstring core. When he waved it shadows shot out of the end and stared to dance around the room.

When it was finally my turn… I was nervous. What if I didn't have a wand? What if I couldn't find it? What if-

"Which hand do you use?"

"Right hand." He nodded and shuffled off into the back room. When he came back he handed me a want. Cherry tree, dragon heartstring core. Nope. That wand blew a hole in the ceiling when I waved it. Second one was no better… Elm tree, snowy owl feather core. No… that one smashed all the windows. Ollivander was muttering under his breath after the second wand.

"She is too powerful… this had better be the right wand my poor little shop can't take much more of this!"

A normal person wouldn't have been able to hear him but my Shinobi training allowed me to. I almost laughed, almost.

"Ok, I hope this is your wand. Oak tree with a Phoenix feather core. Please don't destroy my store!"

I giggled slightly at his antics before hesitantly reaching out for the wand. I gasped quietly when my hand touched the wand and I knew straight away that it was mine. I gave it a quick wave and black and white flashes sparked from the tip. I smiled slightly looking over my wand. I ran back to my friends who were already making their way out of the shop after bowing and politely saying 'thank you' to Ollivander.

Shikamaru wrapped his arms around my waist and we walked through Diagon Alley. Naruto stopped and pulled all of us into another little shop. It was a pet shop.

"This is where you can find your familiars… I have Akamaru so I can teach you how to find and bond with yours." Kiba explained.

Kiba explained that to find our familiars we would have to flare our magic or chakra or both and go to the animal that gives a response. Lee went first. He flared his magic and then wondered of into the shop coming back with a turtle that changed colour. He named is Bari.

Sakura went next. She did the same but came back with a snowy owl. He is called Yuki.

Hinata got a white dove called Haru. She was sitting on Hinata's shoulder.

Naruto got a fox called Natsu. He was curled up in his arms.

Sasuke got a snake called Serena. The only thing he said when she got back was;

"Careful. Serena is poisonous."

Shikamaru came back with a deer called Kage. He was obediently following Shikamaru around. He was adorable.

When it was finally my turn I flared both my chakra and my magic. I felt a response and followed it to a little basket of kittens. I looked inside and all of them shuffled backward slightly. Only one walked forward and it made me smile. She was a beautiful Grey tabby kitten, probably about the size of my palm. She was called Tora. I picked her up and she nuzzled her face into my hand. She was purring. I carried her back to the group. I smiled at everyone before carrying her over to the counter. The lady behind the counter told me that she wasn't just a normal kitten. She was spell proof and fire proof. Also, one she is spiritually linked a person, namely me, she will not die until I do. I smiled and petted the tiny kitten again. she was definitely my cat.

After everyone had paid for their animals we were tired and sat around waiting for Snape to come back. Where the hell was he anyway?

_**Hope you liked it.. x.**_

_**Please review and tell me what you think.. x.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hi again. x.**_

_**I really hope you are liking this story so far. x .**_

_**Ok… in this chapter I may do a small time skip. Just say that they are getting ready to get on the train. Ok. x. **_

_**ENJOY. X.**_

_**Hat thinking**_

_**Hat talking**_

_**Mariko's pov**_

We woke up at 4 am so that we could get the train. Professor McGonagall woke us all up. Professor McGonagall has been the one teaching us since Snape never came back from his little chat with Dumbledore. He sent McGonagall instead. I liked McGonagall, I really did, but she was much more strict. She liked the rules and she like normal behaviour so she was not having the best of times trying to control eight psychotic ninja.

When we arrived at the train station McGonagall introduced us to Molly Weasley and her children, Ginny, Ronald, George, Fred, Percy, Charlie and Bill. McGonagall said she had something that needed to be done at hogwarts so she apparated out and left us in the care of the Weasleys.

Molly taught us how to get onto the platform and there we met up with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger; the Weasleys friends. After introducing ourselves and saying our goodbyes, Ron, Harry, Hermione, The twins, Ginny and the ninja all got on. The twins ran off to find their friends and Hermione and Ron had to go to the prefect carriages so that left Harry and Ginny to share a carriage with us.

On the train ride there everyone got on really well. Harry and Ginny had even been explaining about Hogwarts.

"Do you have any idea of what house you will be sorted into?" Harry asked.

"Ermm… I think I will fit into any except Slytherin." Hinata stated quietly.

"Either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff." Kiba answered.

"Probably Slytherin or Ravenclaw." Sasuke answered with a shrug.

"Any… except Slytherin. I am far too Youthful to be Sneaky and ambitious!" Lee shouted.

"No but your 'youthfulness' could be classed as a torture method." I muttered.

"I don't know which house I will be in. I guess I could go into any." Naruto answered slowly, as if he was thinking carefully about it.

"I will probably be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff." Sakura answered.

"I don't know and I don't really care." I answered rolling my eyes. These stupid houses are just creating enemies for people. Like Potter and Malfoy. I bet those two would have been good friends if they weren't sorted into different houses.

"I will probably be in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin." Shikamaru answered yawning.

"Oh, we are both in Gryffindor." Ginny told us proudly. I nodded and looked out of the window.

"Looks like we are already here." With that said everyone got up and got their stuff together ready to get off the train.

When we got off everyone was led to big carriages. Ron and Hermione caught up to us as well as two others who introduced themselves as Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom.

"What are those things? The ones pulling the carriages?" Harry asked.

"Nothing's there Harry. They pull themselves like they always have." Hermione explained.

"No… It's just that only certain people can see them. All of us can see them and Harry can and it seems Luna and Neville can too. Don't worry Harry. You're not the only one." Sakura said comfortingly.

We all piled into the carriage and started the bumpy ride to Hogwarts in a comfortable silence. When we finally got out McGonagall led the first years and us away from the rest and into a corridor.

"Ok, now… all of you will be sorted when we go inside. I will take the first years in and they shall be sorted and then Dumbledore shall introduce you exchange student before you can come in and be sorted. Sound good?" We all nodded and McGonagall smiled before leading the first years into the Great Hall.

We all broke off into our own conversations until we heard the loud voice of Albus Dumbledore introducing us as 'Exchange students from Japan'.

We slowly made our way into the great hall and stood in front of McGonagall.

"Ok, Akane Mariko." I walked forward and she told me to sit down on the small stool. McGonagall smiled and placed and old dusty pointed hat on my head.

_**Aah. A very powerful young lady. You are very smart, very brave, and very loyal to your friends… but you are very ambitious and have well… quite and evil side to you. **_I felt him shuffling through my thoughts, searching for something that could help him decide which house to be put in.

"_**Dumbledore this is stupid! This girl cannot be sorted!"**_

"How so?" Dumbledore asked frowning slightly.

"_**She has a HQ off the charts… She is amazingly loyal to her friends… she is almost stupidly brave… but she is ambitious and has one hell of a scary side to her!" **_I smirked at the sound of the hat whining. I had a sudden evil vision of ripping the stupid whining had apart stitch by stitch.

"_**Ok… That thought alone puts you into SLYTHERIN!"**_ I chuckled darkly and my friends laughed.

"I always knew you were evil!" Naruto shouted, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Better believe it sweetheart. I could kick your ass all the way back to Japan." Everyone laughed as Naruto shuffled behind Sasuke, hiding behind him. I laughed again and ran over to the Slytherin table taking a seat next to a pale blonde boy.

_**Sakura's pov**_

"Haruno Sakura." When I heard my name being called I took a deep breath and slowly made my way over to the little stool. McGonagall placed the hat on my head.

_**Hmm… Another difficult one to place. You are strong… and brave… and smart… and loyal… the only house you don't seem to fit into is Slytherin. I think you will be best in… **__**"RAVENCLAW!"**_

I smiled as the hat was taken off my head and I made my way over to sit with the friend I made this morning. Luna Lovegood. I turned and watched the rest of my friends being sorted.

_**Hinata's pov**_

"Hyuuga Hinata." I didn't want to be sorted. I was frightened. What if I was separated from everyone? Or what if they didn't like me? Or what if I was put in Slytherin? They don't look like the friendliest bunch. I shuffled backwards slightly until Kiba took my hand and pulled me forward. He literally sat me on the stool and then walked back to re-join the others. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for whatever what coming. McGonagall gently placed the hat on my head and I heard a voice in my mind.

_**Don't be worried young one. Hmm… let's see. You are strong and brave… you are ambitious but mostly you worry about your friends. You are very loyal to them and care about them dearly. I think you will fit in best in **__**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**_

I slowly made my way over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down next to a nice looking girl. I smiled and turned around to watch my friends be sorted.

_**Kiba's pov**_

"Kiba Inuzuka." I stood up and copied what my friends had done. I sat down on the little stool and put the hat on my head. I don't know what I was expecting but a voice in my head was NOT it.

_**Hmm… You are a very brave young man. Loyal, yes, and brave… very brave… you will do best in **__**"GRYFFINDOR!"**_

I heaved a sigh of relief when the hat was finally off my head. I didn't like it. I slowly made my way over to the Gryffindor table muttering under my breath about stupid demon hats.

_**Shikamaru's pov**_

"Nara Shikamaru" Hearing my name being called I yawned and slowly made my way up to the front. The that hat barely touched my head when it screamed;

"_**RAVENCLAW!"**_

"Troublesome." I slowly made my way over to the Ravenclaw table and took a seat next to Sakura.

"Hey Shikamaru."

"Sakura." I yawned again and lay my head down on the table and decided to sleep for a while.

_**Lee's pov**_

"Rock Lee"

"YOSH! THE POWER OR YOUTH!"

"LEE! SHUT THE HELL UP AND SIT THE HELL DOWN! DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!" I heard Mariko shout at me from across the room. Such a powerful, youthful lady. I am proud and glad to have such an amazingly youthful friend. I bowed to Mariko and bounced over to the stool.

"Sorry, Mari."

I sat on the chair and forced the hat onto my head.

_**Ah… a very energetic one I see.**_

"OH MY GOSH! WHAT A YOUTHFUL TALKING HAT!" I was not expecting it to talk, but how youthful and fantastic that it does!

"Lee… dude seriously… Mari WILL kill you." I heard Kiba shout from the Gryffindor table. Akamaru barked as if in agreement.

"… sorry…" I whispered, still with a big grin on my face.

_**Hahaha… you're an interesting one. You will fit in best in… **__**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**_

I happily jumped up and ran over to the Hufflepuff table sitting myself next to Hinata.

"Ah, Hinata, my youthful friend!" I said.

"Lee, I swear to god if Hinata comes back screaming about the power of youth I will destroy you!"

"UNDERSTOOD, KIBA! I PROMISE THAT HINATA WILL BE RETURNED TO YOU EXACTLY HOW SHE WAS!"

"I AM here!" Hinata reminded us. I smiled one more time before focusing again on the sorting.

_**Naruto's pov**_

"Uzumaki Naruto." I heard McGonagall call my name. I took a deep breath and quickly skipped over to the little stool.

"That's me. Believe it!"

"Dobe, just sit down."

"Shut up, teme."

I sat down and McGonagall place the hat on my head.

_**Hmmm… let's see… a traumatic past. Very very sad… but you have conquered it. You are strong, yes, and brave, extremely brave. Loyal to your friends. You don't have any family but you have someone you care very much for… hmmm… I sense a source of great power and evil inside of you.**_

_**Hey! I resent that! I am NOT evil… just a bit mean. **_Kyuubi argued. I sighed heavily. This will be a long conversation. After listening to the two of them argue for about 15 minutes I took the hat off my head.

"Damn kyuubi!"

"What happened?" Sasuke asked.

"Kyuubi and the hat got into a fight! They have been arguing for ages… just because the hat called him evil! Which he is!" Sasuke and the other ninja's laughed. All of the students and teachers looked confused so Mariko decided to explain.

"Naruto has multiple personality disorder. He has two personalities. Naruto and Kyuubi. Kyuubi is the evil sadistic side to the usually sweet blonde… it is actually quite interesting to see them switch."

I rolled my eyes. Mariko and Kyuubi got on very well and only Mari can find it interesting to see a psycho demon fox take over their friends' body.

_**I am NOT psychotic!**_

I sighed again and put the hat back on.

_**Sorry about that kid… right. You would do well in… **__**"GRIFFINDOR!"**_

I quickly jumped up and ran over to the table to the seat next to Kiba. He just laughed at me until I hit him.

_**Sasuke's pov**_

"Uchiha Sasuke."

I made my way over to the stool and sat down placing the hat onto my head. Of course It didn't take long at all for the hat to scream out;

"_**SLYTHERIN!"**_

"Shocker!" I muttered sarcastically making my way over to the table. I sat next to Mariko.

_**Mariko's pov**_

"What rotten luck. I got stuck with you!"

"N'aww… is little Sasu sour cause he can't sit with his boyfriend?"

"Yes… but shut up!" I just smiled. I wrapped my arm over his shoulders and gave him a one armed hug.

"It's ok… look around… we have ALL been separated from our loved ones. Even Draco here!"

"Ermm… I don't know you but I don't have a loved one at the moment."

"That's a lie!" both me and Sasuke said in unison. We had both seen the not-so-subtle looks that he was throwing a certain Gryffindor.

"Well, enough about me… did you say boyfriend? You're gay?"

"Yeah… so are you apparently." Draco blushed and once again tried to change the subject.

"so… are you both pure-blooded? Almost all the Slytherins are pure-bloods."

"I am a pure-blood but Sasuke isn't. He is muggle-born." Draco looked completely shocked.

"Muggle-born? You're a mud-blood?"

"No… he is a wizard… exactly the same as you."

"But-"

"Malfoy… do NOT make us kill you." I glared at him. He flinched away from me and stopped arguing.

I was about to grab something else to eat when a blur of blonde can flying towards me and attached itself around my neck.

"What did he do now?" I sighed.

"He was teasing me about Sasuke." He mumbled into my shoulder.

"N'aww, come on Foxy, just tease him back. Or just knock him out… its only Kiba." His arms around my neck tightened and he nuzzled into my hair.

"Ok, thank you, Koko-chan." I hated that nick-name and he knew it. He was babying me.

"HEY, I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!" I turned around and started to chase him. He ran away. We were chasing each other for a good half an hour much to the amusement of everyone else in the room.

"I am getting bored of playing Naruto." He squeaked and started running faster. I teleported in front of him and caught him. I held his arms and held them behind his back.

"Please don't kill me!" He begged. I just laughed evilly until a different voice echoed around the room.

"Let. Go. Of. Me."

"Hello, Kyuubi. So nice of you to join us!" I smiled and let go of him. I shuffled back to my own table and sat down in my seat between Sasuke and Draco. I quickly looked over my shoulder to see Naruto slowly returning to normal.

"Sasuke, if I were you I would go sort your boyfriend out."

"No way… You're kidding right! Kyuubi hates me. He tried to kill me last time!"

"Well, that is because you called on Manda and tried to kill him first!" it was a horrible day. We had all travelled from the village to try and bring Sasuke back when he summoned Manda, a powerful snake demon, to kill us. Of course, Naruto then brought Kyuubi out, who tried to kill Sasuke but didn't need to since within five minutes of being summoned Manda got into an argument with Sasuke and tried to kill him instead of us… yeah… interesting day to say the least.

"Oh, come on, Manda didn't hurt him!"

"Only because he got into an argument with you!"

"… yeah, that snake does not like me very much!" I looked over my shoulder to see Naruto finally back to himself.

"Speaking of snakes… where is Serena?"

"I… don't know. SERENA!"

A large purple-ish black-ish coloured snake slithered in and curled itself around Sasuke's shoulders.

"There she is!" I rolled my eyes. Only Sasuke.

_**I really hope you like this. x.**_

_**I'm really into this story at the moment so I am updating as quick as I can. x.**_

_**Please review and tell me what you think. x.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey. x.**_

_**I really hope you are enjoying reading this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. x.**_

_**:D**_

_**Please remember to review!**_

_**Mariko's pov**_

We were led up to the Slytherin common room and were told that the password was "Polyjuice." There was a picture of Salazar Slytherin guarding the common room entrance. Sasuke, Draco and I were trailing behind the others. When we finally arrived at the common room entrance I had a chat with Salazar.

"Hmm… I like you."

"Well, I am likeable." Salazar chuckled .

"Right, well, it is almost curfew, you three had better get inside."

"Ok, thanks Sal."

"See you tomorrow, Mari." I grabbed Draco and Sasuke and dragged them into the common room. As soon as we got inside everyone in the common room cornered us.

"Where the hell have you three been?" A girl called Pansy shouted.

"We were having a nice chat with Sal." I answered.

"Sal?"

"She means Salazar Slytherin. Apparently, she makes friends pretty easy." Draco rolled his eyes while I grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him through the crowd. Everyone was watching us.

"I challenge you, Sasuke Uchiha, to a game of chess." I said.

"No."

"Ok, I order you, as your superior, to play a game of chess with me."

"Fine." He grumbled. The whole Slytherin house was watching us curiously. I slowly set up the board and made my first move. I had only taken one move and on Sasuke's first move he knocked over his king.

"Spoilt sport!" I mumbled. Sasuke just shrugged and made his way to the dormitories. This year every student in Slytherin gets their own room.

"Why did he give up?" Draco asked sitting next to me.

"He knew he couldn't win. My IQ is off the charts. I reached genius level by the time I could talk… Same with Shikamaru.

"Well, if you're so smart why are you not in Ravenclaw?" Pansy asked snootily.

"Because I am an evil bitch and fit better in Slytherin, shockingly. Plus, mother was in Slytherin when she was in this school."

"What about your Father?"

"Don't know who he is… my mother graduated and moved to Japan before she found out that she was pregnant with me and she died the day I was born… amazingly convenient isn't it."

Pansy shut up then and just took a seat across from me while Draco wrapped his arm around my shoulders comfortingly. I smiled at him until the picture frame above the fireplace suddenly contained Sal.

"Hey… Mari. There are some people outside the common room asking for you."

"Who?"

"Ermm… They said their names were something like… Shikamaru… Sakura… Naruto… Kiba… Hinata… and Lee… I think."

"That's great! Can you let them in please?"

"Only for you." I smiled and Sal disappeared back into his own picture frame. When the entrance door opened and everyone piled in.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi, Mari… where is Sasuke?"

"In his room, Naru-Chan will you go get him for us please?"

"Don't call me Naru-Chan!"

"Payback for calling me Koko-Chan!" Naruto just grumbled under his breath and stormed off to find Sasuke.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We come to get you. Dumbledore gave us permission to stay out after curfew since most of us are insomniacs anyway." Kiba explained.

"Sweet! Hey Shika… give you game of chess?"

"You're on!"

I quickly set up the board and took the first move. We were making moves really quickly, faster than the eye could see. I could hear the whispers of the Slytherins talking to the other 'transfer students' in the otherwise silent room.

"How are they playing like that?"

"They are both Super-genius'. It's scary how smart they both are."

"Check… mate!" I said with smug smirk on my face.

"Yeah… you win… but wipe that smirk off your face."

"or what..?."

"Or I'll do it for you!" With that said he leaned forward and kissed me lightly. I smiled at him.

"Erm… boss?" I heard Sakura call.

"Yeah, what's up?" I answered tearing my eyes away from Shikamaru to look at her.

"Naruto and Sasuke didn't come back." She answered. She was clearly implying that they could be up to… stuff. I heaved a sigh.

"Anyone want to go see what they're up to?" Everyone vigorously shook their head. I sighed again.

"Is Natsu and Serena here?" I asked.

"Yeah… they are over there with Malfoy." Replied Kiba.

"Hey, Draco… will you please bring the fox and the snake over here please?"

He picked up the fox and walked towards us and the snake followed, keeping a very close watch on Draco and Natsu.

"Hey, babies. Serena, Natsu… do you think you two could go find Sasuke and Naruto please?" They both went off in the direction of the boy's dorm. "Hmm… I hope Serena doesn't bite anyone… she's poisonous." Everyone chuckled quietly.

Soon enough Natsu and Serena scuttled back into the room followed by a grinning Naruto and a grumpy Sasuke.

Everyone made their way out of the common room except for me who decided to stay and search for Tora. Everyone said they would wait for me outside. A door opened into the common room and Snape came in. Apparently that door led to his office.

"Hello new students. I am professor Snape, potions master of Hogwarts and Slytherins head of house. My office is just through that door if you need me which, unless someone is dying, you shouldn't. Now, which of the Transfer students are in this house?"

"That'd be me and Sasuke, Snape."

"Miss Akane… I have been asked by Dumbledore to pass a message on to you and any of the other transfer students. You have been given permission to wander around school grounds after curfew. According to the headmaster almost all of you are insomniacs and would prefer not to be cooped up all the time."

"Thank you, Professor. By the way, have you seen a tiny little kitten anywhere. She is about the size of my palm, a grey tabby… she is called Tora… I can't find her anywhere!"

"Yes… she found her way into my office… feel free to come and collect her." He answered. I followed him into his office and he shut the door behind us. He made his way over to his desk and sat down.

"She is in the basket in the corner." He told me. He was watching me rather closely as if he expected me to burst into flames and start tap-dancing on the ceiling… which technically I could do.

"Thanks… Hi, baby… what are you doing in here?"

_**Hey hey hey, Mariko-nee-Chan, he has a magic signature like yours. I thought he was you at first, until I saw him… He isn't you.**_

"No, he's not me. Sorry you got confused. Maybe you should focus on my chakra signature instead of my magic one… then it will be harder for you to get confused, ok baby?"

_**OK!**_

"Are you talking to your cat?" Snape asked, looking quite confused.

"Yes, I am. If you connect properly with your familiar then they can talk back too." I smiled at him while scooping the little kitten into my arms. "Do you have a familiar yet?"

"No. I don't have one."

"Everyone has a familiar… you just have to find it. How about you come to Diagon alley with us in the next break. We'll see if we can find it for you."

"I don't-"

"I am not taking no for an answer. You're coming. That is that." He smiled slightly.

"You are far too much like your mother." He knew my mother? I took a seat across from him. It was a comfortable armchair in front of his desk.

"Can you tell me about her? I never knew her."

"Ok. Well… We were best friends. Three of us. Ai Akane, Lily Evans and me. The tree of us spent all our time together. Lily was in Gryffindor whereas me and Ai were in Slytherin but we still got along well. Until, we started to fall apart. Lilly started to spent more time with her fellow Gryffindor's, especially The Maruaders. Moony-Remus Lupin, Padfoot-Sirius Black, Wormtail- Peter Pettigrew and Prongs-James Potter. James especially didn't like me at all. He hated me. He was always playing pranks on me and one would've even killed me if Sirius hadn't stepped in. I'm not entirely sure what Potter had against me but… he really hated me. He would always threaten about making my life a living hell, and I would do the same, but he was the one that won in the end. He got Lilly, which left me and Ai alone and broken-hearted. After Lilly started dating him, we rarely saw her. And she never spoke to us. We still loved her but she forgot about us… That was in fourth year… after that it was just me and her. Your mother was a great woman and a very powerful witch. She was pretty amazing. I loved her to bits. I can't believe she is dead."

I reached over the desk and took his hand. He was shocked it seemed as his head instantly snapped up to stare at me.

"You have your mothers' eyes."

"I do?"

"Yes." He opened a desk draw and pulled out a photo frame. In the frame was a moving picture of a younger Snape and a blonde haired blue eyed girl. I stared at the picture.

"That's me and your mother." I looked up into his eyes quickly and looked back down at the picture. My mother had shoulder length platinum blonde hair, bright crystal blue eyes and tanned skin. She was beautiful. Snape, on the other hand, looked like her opposite in every way. He had pale white skin, dark brown eyes and long dark brown almost black hair.

The picture was replaying a short scene over and over again. I am guessing that it is charmed to hold a memory. It started off with Snape scowling at everything around him while my mother was smiling, laughing and practically bouncing around the scene. They were both wrapped up in woolly hats and scarfs and it was snowing. A blanket of white covered the ground around them. Snape stayed scowling for a while until my mother threw a snowball at him. He shook it off and threw one back. It started a major snowball war. They ran around for a while until Snape started chasing her around. She ran from him and they were both laughing and joking around. Eventually he caught her by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling them both to the ground. They landed, laying next to each other in the show. They were smiling and laughing. That's how it ended. Then it re-started.

"A fond memory?" I asked. I was still watching the picture with unblinking eyes. I couldn't tear my eyes away. I smiled slightly as a snowball hit Snape in the face inside the frame.

"How did you know?"

"I assumed that if you were going to charm a picture to replay a memory it would be one you are rather fond of and would not like to forget." I felt tears welling up in my eyes so I tore my gaze away from the picture and took a deep breath, trying to blink the tears away. Snape was watching me closely, so he probably caught the single tear that escaped my eye.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"For what?"

"Speaking to me about her… and showing me this. Thank you." He just smiled and nodded.

"Keep it if you like."

"B-but it's yours! I couldn't take it from you." I was shaking my head but he just put the picture in my hands.

"Don't worry about it. I have more. Maybe I'll show you some more another time." I smiled and nodded.

"I'd like that… thank you… again… and… Professor? If you don't mind me asking… what was so special about this snowball fight?" I tilted my head to the side in a small show of confusion.

"Ai used to do that too." He chuckled slightly, gesturing to what I was doing. "And… that was the day… she fixed me. I was still broken-hearted that Lilly had left us, and the day before the marauders had almost played that prank that could've gotten me killed and I was kind of… depressed. Ai, she cheered me up… she fixed me."

I smiled at him, clutching the photo to my chest.

"Then maybe I shouldn't take this photo."

"Why not?"

"Because it is a very special memory… and it will give you strength when you are down."

He smiled and nodded.

"Ok… but I will give you one… I promise." I smiled widely and nodded.

"Thank you." He nodded and shooed me out of his office wishing me a goodnight. I scooped Tora into my arms and walked out of the common room, joining my friends in the hall. They smiled and I just went and attached myself to Shika's hip. We decided that tonight we would just take a quick look around the grounds and then go back to our rooms. All through the walk around the grounds I was just thinking about the picture I had seen and the small story I had heard from Snape…

I couldn't help but thing that they looked like more than friends…

_**Ok… tell me what you think. x.**_

_**I would really like to hear your opinions. x.**_

_**Review for a kit kat.!.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello again everyone. x.**_

_**Miss me..?. of course not… that's because I am updating too quickly… I'm not giving you time to miss me..**_

_**Ah, well.**_

… _**well… ON WITH THE STORY!**_

"_**Animal/demon talking"**_

"Talking-English"

"Talking-Japanese"

_**Mariko's pov**_

I made my way to the great hall to eat breakfast with the other students. I sat down at the practically empty Slytherin table. The only ones in the great hall were the teachers, the ninja's and very few students.

"Hey guys… did anyone actually sleep last night?" Kiba asked, entering the great hall with Akamaru at his heels. I seems that all the animals had taken to following their masters every move.

"Of course… I got a few hours sleep." Naruto shouted happily.

"Hn." Sasuke answered.

"Ok, I am taking that 'hn' as a yes." Kiba muttered.

"What about you Hinata?"

"Y-yes… I managed to sleep for a few hours." He just smiled at her.

"Of course, I slept… I need to get some sleep every night to reach my full youthfulness." Lee shouted. Everyone just stared at him like he had grown a second head.

"I slept… but only for an hour or two." Sakura muttered, still watching Lee.

"cool… me too. What about you guys? Shikamaru? Mariko?" We both just looked at him with an 'are-you-stupid' look.

"Right… sorry… stupid question… You are the laziest person alive and sleep every second you can" Kiba muttered gesturing toward Shika who just rolled his eyes. "And you… haven't slept in ten years! I still don't understand how you do that." I just shrugged and turned away to eat some breakfast. I ate some scrambled egg and a little bit of bacon.

I fed a little bit of bacon to Tora, who was curled up in my lap, and she mewled appreciatively. I chuckled at how cute she was. I felt two arms wrap themselves around my waist and I leaned back into the strong chest. I rested my head back on his shoulder and smiled.

"Hey Shika."

"Hey… what lessons do you have today… maybe we will have some of the same lessons?"

I pulled my timetable out of my pocket and unfolded it.

_Monday_

_1__st__ period: Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw._

_2__nd__ period: Divination with Hufflepuff._

_Break._

_3__rd__ period: Potions with Gryffindor._

_4__th__ period: Potions with Gryffindor._

_Lunch._

_5__th__ period: Defence Against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor._

_6__th__ period: Care of magical creatures with Ravenclaw._

_Tuesday_

_1__st__ period: Herbology with Hufflepuff._

_2__nd__ period: Transfiguration with Gryffindor._

_Break._

_3__rd__ period: Charms with Ravenclaw._

_4__th__ period: Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw._

_Lunch._

_5__th__ period: Potions with Gryffindor._

_6__th__ period: DADA with Gryffindor. _

_Wednesday_

_1__st__ period: Charms with Ravenclaw._

_2__nd__ period: Care of magical creatures with Ravenclaw._

_Break._

_3__rd__ period: Divination with Hufflepuff._

_4__th__ period: Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw._

_Lunch._

_5__th__ period: Potions with Gryffindor._

_6__th__ period: Potions with Gryffindor._

_Thursday_

_1__st__ period: DADA with Gryffindor._

_2__nd__ period: DADA with Gryffindor._

_Break._

_3__rd__ period: Ancient Runes with Ravenclaw._

_4__th__ period: Divination with Hufflepuff._

_Lunch._

_5__th__ period: Transfiguration with Gryffindor._

_6__th__ period: Herbology with Hufflepuff._

_Friday_

_1__st__ period: Charms with Ravenclaw._

_2__nd__ period: Divination with Hufflepuff._

_Break._

_3__rd__ period: Potions with Gryffindor._

_4__th__ period: DADA with Gryffindor._

_Lunch._

_5__th__ period: Care of magical creatures with Ravenclaw._

_6__th__ period: Herbology with Hufflepuff._

"Sounds good… looks like we will have a long week though." I nodded at Shikamaru's comment.

"Aah, Troublesome." I smiled and turned to kiss him. He was so cute sometimes.

"Well, come on Lazy bones… time for Ancient Runes." I got up and started dragging him behind me.

When we finally arrived we spent an hour talking about Seals. I sighed. I was already a seals master back home… I really didn't need this lesson seeing as this was the basics so instead I amused myself with playing with Tora. Kage was sleeping, as was his master. I smiled and watched Shika sleep. He looked so peaceful… so cute. I wondered what he was dreaming about. I hadn't slept in ten years… I couldn't remember what it was like to dream… to sleep. He shifted slightly and then it was time for me to go to Divination. I gently shook him awake and sent him off to his next lesson, Kage was, of course, trailing behind him. I chuckled quietly before making my way up to Divination.

When I got there we were told to pair up. I paired up with Hinata and I sent Sasuke over to be with Lee… he glared at me… a lot. The bug-like teacher told us to drink the tea and then pass our cup to our partner. I laughed when I saw Lee drain the cup in one gulp and literally throw the cup at Sasuke. Of course he caught it but not before activating his sharingan and glaring at him.

I looked into Hinata's cup trying to decipher the mesh of shapes. I noticed a small shape in the cup and noticed that it meant 'to gain'. I also noticed a bigger shape that meant 'loved one'.

"So… it looks like you are going to gain a new loved one… hmm… interesting." She nodded and looked into my cup.

"You… are going to find someone that you have always wanted to know… I think." I smiled.

"Ok, now that that is over and done with… I'm bored." She just giggled slightly and started talking about random things until the lesson ended.

At break Sasuke and Naruto was sat in the Great hall, talking with Kiba and Hinata. Sakura and Lee where sat under the trees near the forbidden forest. Shikamaru and myself were sat out at the edge of the lake. It was so beautiful. The dark blue water shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight. The white clouds and the bright blue sky were reflected on the water's surface. I let out a contented sigh and lay back into the cool, soothing grass. Shikamaru lay next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his chest. I looked out at the beautiful lake while Shikamaru was staring at the clouds passing overhead. I closed my eyes and snuggled closer into his body and his arm around me tightened.

"What are you two doing out here?" I heard someone ask. I cracked open a single eye and looked up to see… Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape.

"Go. Away. Blondie!"

"Hey! Don't call me Blondie!"

"Then go away… I am finally relaxing for the first time in years… so, bugger off!" Shikamaru chuckled and I playfully hit him in the chest. I jumped up onto my feet.

"Ok.. happy now… I am no longer comfortable or relaxed… clearly the universe doesn't like me to be happy!" Snape was watching me with a clearly amused expression on his face while Draco was trying not to laugh. Shikamaru stood up took my hand and walked with me out onto the lake. Draco gasped but Snape didn't seem too surprised… probably because he was friends with my mum… she could probably walk on water. I dispersed the charka around my feet and instantly fell under the water. After cooling off I walked back up to the surface and smiled at Shikamaru. We walked back to the edge and as soon as my feet touched the ground Snape had his wand pointed at me, drying me off.

"Thanks." I said after I was dry.

"No problem… you mum used to like going underwater too. She had learnt a Justu or spell or something to make it so that she could breathe under the water. She would spend hours talking with the animals under there… it was strange… and it took a lot of getting used to but it was just what she did… you really are a lot like her."

"But I don't look like her."

"I guess you look more like your dad… at least… I'm assuming. Perhaps you look like another family member.. an auntie, an uncle, grandparents… you never know." I smiled at him. In the short time I had spent at hogwarts so far I noticed that he was never this nice to anyone else. Only me. I could only assume that it was because he was close friends with my mother… or is it something more than that..?.

I made my way into the potions classroom with Draco and Snape as we had made our way there straight from the lake. Snape sat down at his desk while I took the empty seat in between Naruto and Kiba while Draco sat between his 'body guards' Crabbe and Goyle.

In those two hours of potions I found out that I was a natural. I always knew the answers, always made the potions perfectly (so far anyway) and always knew what I was doing… even without the instructions. I never imagined myself to be good at potions but it seems that it's in my blood. It's part of me. Now that I have started making potions I couldn't imagine me not being able to make them. So far I have decided that potions is my favourite lesson and, believe it or not, Snape is my favourite teacher! Even though I was good at potions… no-one else seemed to be. Draco was the best of everyone, excluding the Professor and myself, by far but his potions always came out slightly botched up. Almost everyone else's were a complete mess. Neville's exploded, twice. Naruto's blew up six times. Kiba's turned a sickly colour was about to explode when Snape hurried over and tried to fix it… apparently it was unfixable. It exploded. It died Kiba's hair green. I had to fix it. It was extremely funny.

At lunch we walked up to the teachers table and asked if we could have a little chat with the teachers. Dumbledore took the eight of us to his office along with the other teachers. When we got there, Dumbledore sat at his desk while the other teachers spread themselves around the room. We walked in and the first thing that caught my attention was the beautiful fiery bird sat on the desk. It was captivating. I was staring at it for what felt like hours, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. I faintly heard the conversation in the room in the back of my mind.

"So… who will be talking for you all?" Dumbledore asked.

"Mariko will, won't you Mariko?" I didn't answer. I was barely paying attention.

"Mari?"

"Boss?"

"Boss?"

"Boss!"

"BOSS!" I heard all of my different friends calling me. I still wasn't paying enough attention to answer.

"ANBU Phoenix." That name snapped me into attention.

"At your service." I saluted to Shikamaru, who had called my ANBU name. I had schooled my face into a blank mask and my eyes held no emotion… I had been in ANBU for far too long to not be able to do that.

"Glad we got your attention. Are you alright?"

"Fine." I was still staring at Shikamaru. He frowned and walked closer to me, taking my hands.

"Are you sure?" I opened my mouth to speak but couldn't. I looked back over my shoulder at the bird and couldn't help but wonder what had happened. I felt like I was connected to the bird… like I had seen it before… I just couldn't place it. I turned back to Shikamaru and before I could say anything he kissed me softly.

"Snap out of it!" He whispered so quietly that only I could hear. I smiled slightly and nodded. Then I looked over his shoulder at the others who where all looking at me, worried. I smiled.

"I'm sorry… I zoned out a little bit… I'm fine." They all smiled and nodded except for Naruto who looked deep in thought. Maybe he was talking to Kyuubi. I saw his eyes start to change colour and I frowned.

"_**Mariko. What was distracting you?"**_

"Kyuubi, nice to see you… well… hear you."

"_**Stop dodging the question!"**_ I sighed.

"It's just… the bird-"

"_**-The Phoenix." **_

"I recognise it from somewhere." I noticed that when I said that Dumbledore smiled. I noticed Kyuubi nod to me and gesture towards Dumbledore. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Dumbledore.

"What?" I asked.

"Your mother had a very close connection to Fawkes. He healed her once when she was dying… perhaps she was pregnant with you when that happened… that is why you have a connection to him. When a phoenix bring someone back from the dead they are connected to them… Your mother was not dead when Fawkes healed her… but maybe, you were." I looked from Dumbledore to Fawkes a few times before shaking my head to clear the thoughts.

"That is not what we are here to discuss Headmaster… I need somewhere… somewhere private and where no students, or even teachers, will go. We need somewhere to train where we will not cause any harm to the students. We can meditate at night outside or in our rooms… but we need somewhere way out of the way to physically train." He nodded slowly, absorbing all of the information.

"Feel free to look around. I am not entirely sure of anywhere you could go."

"There is a large clearing in the forbidden forest… It would be ideal. It is deep enough in that no students would follow us… even most of you teacher would not venture that far in… We are all strong enough to fight off any crazy creatures that try to come after us… especially with Naruto, the kyuubi host, Mariko, super-genius and strongest ANBU in the village as well as being an animal master… she has always been powerful enough to make any animal bow down to her-"

"Hey! I resent that… I do not go around making random animals do my bidding!" God… you do it once and then you're an animal master!

"No but my point is that you could! And then of course there is me. I have been raised and trained to be able to control almost any animal… except for bugs… those things creep me out." Kiba explained.

"This is why we have Shino too!" Shikamaru cut in.

"Yes, I does sound idyllic, but we would need your permission headmaster to constantly be in and out of the forest whenever we feel that we need to train… But, rules! No-one goes in alone. You must be in a team of at least 3. You also must have me, Kiba or Naruto with you whenever you enter the forest. Understood?" There were many echoes of "Yes, ma'am" and "Understood boss" Throughout the group and I turned back to Dumbledore raising an eyebrow. He seemed to understand because he nodded and said;

"As long as you all follow those rules, I see no problem with you using the Forbidden Forest."

I smiled over my shoulder at my group of friends. Naruto was jumping up and down clinging to Sasuke, who was watching him with amusement written all over his face. Kiba was cheering and whooping while doing a strange sort of happy dance… again, strange child. Hinata was watching her boyfriend with a small smile on her face letting out a small giggle every now and again. Lee was shouting about a "youthful training ground for all of us youthful ninja's" while Sakura was laughing her ass off. I shook my head. We were such a weird group. Naruto tried to jump on Shikamaru to make him join in on the celebration. Naruto ended up pinned to the floor by some shuriken and Shika was on the ceiling looking down at them. Sasuke went over to help Naruto off of the floor and I jumped up to the high ceiling to speak to Shika.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… do you really think that you… died?" He asked. He looked sad at the thought. I walked closer to him, took his hand and rested my head on his shoulder.

"I don't know. Why?" He just shook his head and turned his head away. I frowned and used my free hand to turn his head so that we were face to face.

"What's the matter?" I asked softly.

"I just… I can't picture being dead… I don't know what I would do without you. You are strong and beautiful and you are one hell of a troublesome woman… and I love you… I don't want anyone to take you away from me." He whispered quietly. I gasped quietly. I wasn't expecting him to say that. He had never said that before. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him into a kiss.

"I love you too." I whispered against his lips. He smiled and suddenly I lost my footing. I slipped from the ceiling and landed… in Shikamaru's arms, back on the floor. He had beaten me down and caught me. I smiled again as he set me down on the floor. I took his hand again and said;

"It almost the end of lunch. If you want to eat go now." With that said everyone ran from the room and down to the great hall. Me and Shikamaru decided that we weren't really hungry and just decided to take a slow walk to our next lessons… but not before I walked over to see the Phoenix, Fawkes.

"Hi." I whispered. He flew onto my shoulder and nuzzled his beak into my neck. I smiled slightly and petted him for a while until I had to leave to go to my next class, DADA.

I walked into my first Defence Against the Dark Arts class and was immediately confused. All of the tables and desks were pushed up against the wall and at the end of the room stood a wardrobe. I made my way in and saw professor Lupin greeting us and telling us to get into a single file line.

"Can about tell me what a Bogart is?" Only two hands went up. Hermione Grangers and mine… although mine was rather hesitant.

"Yes… Miss Akane?"

"A Bogart is an annoying little creature that takes the shape of your worst fear. No-one knows what one actually looks like."

He nodded and told us that inside the wardrobe was a Bogart. He taught us the spell _"Ridiculous"_. Then he let the Bogart out and Neville went first.

The Bogart turned into Professor Snape… I had to resist laughing. Then it turned into Professor Snape wearing his grandmothers' clothes. I burst out laughing along with the rest of the class. I liked Snape, I really did, but it was just so funny.

Next up was Sasuke. He stepped forward and the Bogart turned into Naruto. His eyes were blood red and he was glowing with a red aura. He had fangs and claws. Kyuubi was possessing him.

"You're afraid of Kyuubi?" I asked.

"Not exactly. I'm afraid of his taking over, and that Naruto will disappear forever." He admitted quietly. He did the spell and the Kyuubi possessed Naruto turned into a tiny chibi-version of Kyuubi. I awed at it until Naruto growled at me, which I am guessing was from Kyuubi. Sasuke smiled slightly and stepped to the side so that Naruto could take his turn.

When Naruto stepped in front of the Bogart it shifted into two shapes. One was of Orochimaru stood with an amused smirk on his face the other was an evil looking Sasuke stood at his side with a katana stood by his side. He said the spell and the Sasuke figure disappeared and the Orochimaru figure was replaced by a really old man hobbling around muttering about the Bijuu's and the sharingan. Me and Kiba, being the only ones who know Orochimaru, burst out laughing. Naruto ran over to Sasuke and hugged him trying to burry himself in Sasuke's neck. I smiled sadly watching them. Sasuke had left once and I know that Naruto's greatest fear is that Orochimaru will take him away again.

Kiba stepped forward next. His Bogart shirted and changed into two figures… Professor Trelawney, the Divination Professor, understandable I guess, and the other was… Shino. I couldn't help it I burst out laughing… Shino? Really?

"Shut up Mari! It's not Shino I'm afraid of, it's his damn bugs… they tried to eat me alive once!"

"OK, understandable… what about Trelawney?"

"Well… she reminds me of a bug." I laughed again.

Kiba said the spell and Trelawney shifted and changed into a giant bug while Shino split into all his different little bugs… then they were squished… by a fly-swat… I rolled my eyes… poor bugs. Then it shifted again and I saw Hinata. She was smiling and laughing and then she was dead. It was as fast as anything. One minute she was there and the next she was laying in a puddle of her own blood. He eyes were wide open in fear and she was staring blankly at us. Kiba was staring wide-eyed at the Bogart he was frozen he could move… a small tear ran down his face. I quickly stood in front of him and he ran over to Sasuke and Naruto who were stood by the wall comforting him.

I looked from Kiba to the Bogart. The Bogart turned into Shikamaru. I watched as he died. At first I was distraught… terrified. I shook my head. Shikamaru was stronger than that, and he was much much stronger… He wouldn't die so easily. Even if he did die… it is not something to fear… death is simply a part of life. And if he were to die, I would waste no time in joining him… I smiled. I wasn't afraid anymore. The image of Shikamaru vanished and instead there was nothing. The Wardrobe door slammed shut and locked from the inside. I tilted my head to the side, confused.

"What just happened?"

"Well, I see that at first your greatest fear was the death of your boyfriend… but then… I don't know but, you conquered that fear… and usually when you conquer one fear another one would replace it… like it did with … but with you… it didn't… you… don't fear anything…" He explained slowly. He was shocked, staring at me… I just shrugged and walked over to the guys who were still comforting the distraught Kiba.

"Well… seeing as the Bogart has locked himself away I think now would be a good time to end the class… dismissed." We all nodded and left the classroom. I sighed.

"Well, that was an interesting class… onto Care of magical creatures!"

When we eventually got to Hagrid's hut. He led us out to the edge of the forbidden forest. He asked us all to keep a safe distance away from the trees but me being me went to lean against one. He watched me closely for a while then turned to quickly scan the trees and then shrugged seemingly finding it safe enough for me to stay there.

"A'righ'. Today, yer gunna learn 'bout Hippogriffs. I'm gonna bring out ma pet Hippogriff. He's called Buckbeak. 'Kay… First thing ya need ta know 'bout Hippogriffs is that they are very proud creatures. You ought not to mess wid em. 'Kay, when ya first meet 'im, you have ta bow really low and see if he bows back… if yes, then ya can go pet 'im… If no, then ya should back away pretty quick."

Everyone nodded and he brought the Hippogriff out, Buckbeak was it? As it came out Hagrid asked for Volunteers. Everyone took a few steps back except for all of us ninja's. The others; Shikamaru, Sakura and Sasuke were stood at the back of the group not paying attention. But, of course, when everyone moved back they caught on and moved back with them. I watched with mild amusement playing on my face.

"Righ' well… Miss Akane… would ya like ta have a go?" I nodded and stood up away from the tree I was leaning on. Buckbeak saw me and scurried away slightly. I stared at him for a while until he calmed down. Hagrid was stood off to the side watching to make sure that Buckbeak didn't attack. Buckbeak stopped scurrying backwards and bowed down low and on one front leg. I raised an eyebrow and bowed back. He stood up and slowly made his way over to me. I petted his beak and smiled.

"Hey, you… aren't you beautiful?" He nuzzled into my hand and I smiled wider.

"Well, it seems that ya got it a bit backward since the Hippogriff bowed to ya first… you must be really powerful if he scurried away from you before bowing." He said thoughtfully.

"I REST KIBA'S CASE!" I heard Shikamaru shout from the back of the group. I spun round quick as lightening and threw a kunai at him. He dodged it and I took out my wand. I didn't say the spell but I thought it. _Bombarda…_ and it blew up just like it was supposed to. I laughed evilly as Shika glared at me for setting his robe on fire. He put the fire out, took out his wand and muttered "repairo". Sakura glared at me and said that he could have been hurt.

"Well, I knew you were here and that you would be able to fix him so I didn't worry too much." She just sighed and smiled slightly. I smirked. I looked back at Shikamaru and he was smiling at me.

"A non-verbal spell… your getting stronger already." He said. I smiled and laughed slightly until I felt a nudge in the back. I turned around and petted Buckbeak again. Hagrid came up next to me and told me that he would probably let me ride him now. I climbed on with, of course, Tora in my lap and he took off. He flew into the air and I tucked Tora under my robe to keep her from flying off. She clung on tightly with her little claws and I always kept one arm wrapped around her so that she wouldn't fall. We flew through the air, over the castle and past the lake. I saw Professor Snape on the roof, he probably had a free period. I whispered in Buckbeak's ear and he landed on the roof not far from Snape.

"Yo." I said… I think I have been spending a little bit too much time with Kakashi.

He looked at Buckbeak and started making his way over.

"STOP! You have to bow first… bow low." He did. And then Buckbeak bowed back. Snape raised an eyebrow. "Ok… now you can approach him… but slowly." He did and he petted Buckbeak gently before approaching me.

"What are you doing up on that thing?" Buckbeak huffed and I swear to god… the bird glared at Snape!

"Don't call him a thing… Hippogriffs are very proud animals and he will eat you… his name is Buckbeak… I'm riding him because I got on well with him… we are learning about Hippogriffs today in Care of magical creatures." He nodded. We heard a loud whistle and Buckbeak started.

"I think that's Hagrid, he must be calling us back… bye Snape!"

"Bye."

Buckbeak took off into the air and flew around for a while before landing back where he started.

I climbed off, petted him one more time and made my way back to my friends… it was now the end of the lesson and the end of the school day. We had a little bit of free time before dinner so I went to the lake again with Shikamaru.

_**I hope you liked it… this was a bit longer than the other chapters because it was the first school day. x.**_

_**Please review. x.**_

_**I would love to hear what you guys think. x.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hello everyone. x.**_

_**I am sorry if people thought that this story is progressing rather slowly but i will fix it in this chapter. x.**_

_**Mariko's pov**_

I was so lost in thought as I walked down the halls that I didnt notice the three young wizards following behind me until I was almost at the Slytherin common room. In retrospect it probably wasn't good for a ninja to be unaware of her surroundings. I decided to leave them to it if only to see what they would do. I walked into professeur Snape's office, watching as the three wizards wearing an invisability cloak slipped in behind me. I sat down at Snapes office and stayed silent until Snape looked up from his marking.

"Hello Mariko."

"Hi Professor."

"How can I be of service this evening?"

"Well... if you're not too busy, Sir, I would love to see some pictures of my mother?" A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he replied.

"Of course, i'm never too busy for you Mari." I smiled at him, still keeping an eye and an ear on the golden trio. I pushed them out of my mind for a moment and looked back at Snape who was looking at me patiently waiting for what I would ask to see.

"I'm not really sure what I would like to see... any idea's professor?" He nodded and smiled while digging through the draw on his desk. Finally he pulled out an enormous pile of photographs.

"Ok, all of these pictures are of me, your mother, and LiIly Evans. Feel free to look through any of them."

"Thank you." I picked up the first one which happened to be a muggle picture of my mum, Snape and Lilly. I smiled. In the picture, mum and lilly were clinging on to Snapes arms and holding him in place for the photograph. He was glaring at the screen while Lilly and mum were grinning. The next one was practically the same but my mum was resting her head on Snapes shoulder while he smiled down at her. Lilly was smiling on knowingly. I raised an eyebrow. Now I really think that they were more than friends.

"Its a shame that poor Harry can't see these. I suppose he has about the same amount of pictures of his parents than I do." I heared Harry shifting uncomfortablely behind me under the invisability cloak. Snape nodded.

"It is but there is really not much I could do... is there? I doubt Potter would come to me like you do."

"I suppose not." I replied sadly.

"Don't be so sad. He has pictures of them, his parents I mean. I gave them to Hagrid and he put them in a scapbook or photo-album or something for his birthday."

"That was sweet of you." I smiled at him while he mock-glared.

"I'm not _sweet_." He answered as if it was a horrible insult.

"I beg to differ." I answered in an almost sing-song voice. He just sulked at his desk while I continued to look through the pictures. After looking through lots of muggle pictures of the 'friends' I decided to just ask.

"You and my mum were more than just best friends... weren't you?" I looked up just in time to see him gulp. He looked up at me with something a kin to fear in his eyes. I tilted my head to the side in confusion which made him smile slightly. He re-opened the draw and pulled out a few more pictures of the two of them.

The first one was of my mum, she was running down the corridor as fast as her legs could carry her until she ran head-first into one Severus Snape...

_Flashback-Snape's pov_

_How could I have messed things up so badly? Neither Lily nor Ai are sppeaking to me. It is so depressing to know that my best friend who I have fallen madly in love with and my other best friend are not speaking to me. _

_I was comletely lost in my thoughts as I made my way through Hogwarts. I was making all of the twists and turns town corridoors on autopilot as my thoughts where bombarded with the love of my life, my soul-mate, Ai Akane and my once best friend Lily Evans. _

_Suddenly I had an armful of Ai and was laying on my back on the cold floor of the Hogwarts corridoors. Everyone had stopped to watch as Ai was laying on top of my with tears in her eyes. Forgetting about our audience I frowned and wiped away the few tears that escaped her eyes. _

_"What's the matter Ai..?." _

_"Lily... She hates us both... I tried but I couldn't change her mind, I couldn't get her to forgive you and after a while she just snapped and said that she hated me."_

_"You were trying to convince Lily to forgive me..?."_

_"Yes, what did you think I was doing..?."_

_"I thought that you had left me too." I replied feeling guilty. I was expecting her to be furious with me but she shook her head and replied;_

_"You Idiot. I would never leave you... I couldn't leave you if I tried because I am so completely in love with you-" She cut herself off with a gasp and I just stared at her before sitting up and crashing our lips together. I could her the forgotten audience around us gasp and I turned to glare at the while breaking away for air. As I turned back to Ai I whispered;_

_"I love you Ai, so much." I kissed her again softly before pulling her to her feet._

_"Be my girlfriend..?." She smiled and nodded and I could of sworn that that was the happyest moment in my life._

_End flashback_

I finished watching the scene and looked up to see Snape was looking so depressed. I watched as a single tear escaped the corner of his eye but he was quick to wipe it away.

"Professeur Snape... Did you really love my mother..?." He nodded.

"I can't believe that she's dead..." A thought suddenly struck me.

"How long did you date my mother..?." He looked confused at the question but he answered anyway.

"Right up until she went home... I never saw her again... I didn't know how to get into contact with the Hidden villages." My eyes widened... so did his... He looked at me and opened his mouth to speak and I did the same but we were interupted by a two sharp gasps. Both me and Snape spun around to see Harry taking the cloak off of the three of them...

_**I think I will leave it here for today. x.**_

_**What do you think should happen to Harry, Ron and Hermione..?.**_

_**What will Mari say to Snape..?.**_

_**REVIEW. x.**_


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